


never

by arielf17



Series: ari tried to do bingo? [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, Love Confessions, M/M, Teacher Steve Rogers, Valentine's Day, also I mention a cabal of annoyed lesbians, there's a smattering of some other children in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:06:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21753460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arielf17/pseuds/arielf17
Summary: prompt: valentine's day
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: ari tried to do bingo? [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567834
Kudos: 22
Collections: Happy Steve Bingo 2019





	never

Steve Rogers was cursed. He firmly believed this, for a number of reasons. Reason one: Every RC plane he’d ever had was destroyed in a fiery crash. Reason two: His parents were dead. Reason three: he was a walking medical marvel, given that scientifically, he never should have survived to the age of 4, let alone 25. 

There were, of course, exceptions. Reason three was technically an exception, given that a series of medical procedures had left him able to grow into what Bucky Barnes described as “the tiny art nerd we all cherish trapped in over six feet and 200 pounds of aesthetic perfection.” Bucky Barnes was Steve’s favorite exception. Because as cursed as Steve was, Bucky had never left his side. Best friends forever, until three months ago when they started dating, the result of a decade and a half of pining and the cunning machinations of a cabal of annoyed lesbians. 

Still, Steve was cursed. Reason four: he had never had a Valentine’s Day. He’d never been dating anyone over the month of February. When he was in school, he and Bucky used to have a Valentine’s Day Lord of the Rings marathon. But given the recent development in their relationship, he suspected Bucky would want to do something a little bit more special. It wasn’t just Valentine’s Day, it was their three month anniversary. 

Steve was completely out of his depth. He didn’t know what Bucky was like in relationships, it wasn’t something the two of them had ever talked about. Steve had never asked because he had been trying to avoid thinking about Bucky in that capacity. 

_ This is stupid,  _ thought Steve,  _ if I want to know what he wants, I can just ask him.  _

“Um, Mr. Rogers? Are you okay?”

The sudden appearance of one of his students reminded Steve that his lunch break was almost over and he had teenagers to wrangle as opposed to stressing about his boyfriend. 

“I’m fine, Peter. Just a little lost in thought. Why don’t you take a seat?”

Peter nodded and sat down. He was early, just like always. Steve had a sneaking suspicion that he and his friends snuck out during lunch, but he had no proof. Besides, Peter Parker was a good kid. Even if he was sneaking out, he probably wasn’t up to anything dangerous or unseemly. 

“Can I...ask you something, Mr. Rogers?” asked Peter. 

Steve nodded. 

“You always seem really tense this time of year. And you always say you’re fine, but...I know it’s not my job to worry about you, but I’m the anxious type, I suppose.”

“That’s really kind of you to worry, Peter. And you’re right, but it’s really nothing you have to worry about. Just a...um...lingering personal problem.” 

The bell rung, and other students began to fill the classroom. Steve lowered the projector screen over the whiteboard and turned on his computer. He then remembered that, oh no, he had stayed over at Bucky’s the previous weekend with all his possessions tucked into his work clothes from Friday, so the flash drive that had his presentation and notes on it had been squirreled away into his blazer instead of his sweater in case Bucky stole his sweater, and oh no, Bucky had decided to mix things up and steal his blazer instead.

Steve pulled out his phone and called Bucky, all while raising the projection screen and amassing white board markers in various colors. 

“Hey babe,” said Bucky. 

“Bring me my blazer,” said Steve. 

“But it looks like a boyfriend jacket. We didn’t get our act together until now, so you see I have to make up for all the B-movie nonsense we missed out on.”

Steve hurriedly drew on the white board, trying to recreate his first visual aid from memory. 

“Buck, I need the flash drive in the inside pocket. My morning classes were all core requirements, so I already had my notes on my work computer.” 

“Ooh. Fuck. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Bucky hung up. Steve frantically finished his drawing, a rough map which somehow ended up looking like a windsock that had been lit on fire. He deposited his phone on the desk and turned to face his class. They all seemed unamused. 

“Right. So...I’m gonna take attendance. Where’s my freaking clipboard.”

Steve located his clipboard and took attendance. No sooner than he had finished with roll, Bucky burst into the classroom. 

“How did you get here so fast?” asked Steve. 

“I know how important this is,” said Bucky, shrugging out of Steve’s blazer. 

He handed the jacket to Steve. Bucky was wearing a t-shirt. He winked at Steve then turned around to leave. 

“Bucky, hold up a minute.” 

Steve slung his jacket over his chair and pulled off his sweater. He tossed it to Bucky. 

“It’s February in New York,” explained Steve. 

“Didn’t know you cared.”

“Yes you did. Get outta here, I’ll see you later.”

Bucky grinned and left the classroom. Steve looked over at his students and realized he might have some explaining to do. 

#

Steve gently tapped his fingers against Bucky’s waist, who was laying back against him on the couch in Steve’s apartment. 

“Buck...can I ask you something?” 

“Yeah, Steve, of course.”

“What do you want to do for Valentine’s Day? I’ve never had a boyfriend over Valentine’s before, and it’s also sort of our anniversary, so I just thought I’d ask.” 

Bucky rolled over so that he was facing Steve. 

“Believe it or not, Stevie, I did have plans. I know you, remember? I know you haven’t had a proper romantic Valentine’s Day, so I’m going to give you one. We’re boyfriends now, but we’re still us.” 

“Thanks, Buck. I’ll make sure to do something special for your birthday.” 

“You always do. We’re free to make the time we spend together even more special now.” 

Steve tugged down on Bucky’s neck and kissed him. 

“I’ll never let you go uncelebrated, Steve.”

When the day finally came, he didn’t know what to expect. Bucky had always been unpredictable. And even though Steve knew him better than anyone, he knew Bucky could still manage to surprise him. 

“Mr. Rogers, the bell rang five minutes ago.”

Steve snapped out of his reverie. All his students looked at him like he had just grown a third head. It was over. The art club had lost all respect for him. Michelle Jones in particular looked pretty disappointed. 

“This have anything to do with Sweater Dude?” asked Michelle. 

“Um...who?” asked Betty. 

“This dude came into class last week,” said Miles, “he had Mr. Rogers’s blazer, and Mr. Rogers gave him his sweater.” 

“Yeah, we don’t know his name, so we’ve just been calling him Sweater Dude,” said Wanda. 

“He’s my boyfriend,” blurted out Steve, “his name is Bucky, he has a surprise planned for Valentine’s Day and I couldn’t be more terrified.” 

“Well, he loves you, right?” asked Betty. 

“Um...yes? I think. We’ve known each other for years, but it’s only been a few months-”

“Mr. Rogers, I don’t think you have any reason to be nervous,” said Miles, “I mean, how long have you known this guy?”

“My whole life.”

Steve didn’t mean to sound wistful and, for lack of a better term, gay, as he said it, but he was down the rabbit hole. 

“So you know him, and he knows you,” said Michelle, “you’ll be fine.” 

The art club kids eased Steve’s mind, so his commute home was a lot easier. Then he opened the door to his apartment. 

His living room was decked with fairy lights. There was a candle on the coffee table next to an envelope, bearing the message  _ read me. _ Steve picked up the envelope and opened it. He unfolded the letter inside. 

“Hey Stevie,” Steve read aloud, “bear with me for a minute. I’ve been thinking about today, about how it’s Valentine’s Day and how it’s been three months. It’s really silly, but it feels like it’s been longer than that. The second I met you, I know you were going to be important. I just had no way of knowing how much. Turn around.” 

Steve turned around, and saw Bucky holding a bouquet of blue and purple flowers. 

“Hey Steve.”

“Hey Bucky.” 

Bucky stepped forward and handed the flowers to Steve. 

“I know dating me isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I take your stuff and I say silly things and I’m prone to more than any man’s fair share of monkey business.” 

“I love you,” said Steve, “I love the silly things you say and when you take my stuff and get up to shenanigans.” 

“I love you too, Steve.” 

“Oh, here,” said Steve. 

He gently set down the bouquet of flowers on the sofa and marched back towards Bucky. Steve wrapped Bucky in his arms and kissed him. 

“Hey, Stevie.”

“What is it, Buck?”

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” 


End file.
